A Kiss of Lies (35 page)

“The doctor and Mrs. Butler will take care of her. You would be no use to them given the state you are in. They have to get the bullet out, and even though she’s still unconscious, it will hurt her. Do you really want to see her in pain?”

“It’s taking too long.”

“The doctor worked on the battlefields at Waterloo. He’s taken out many bullets. He is simply being thorough. Keep it neat and clean, he said. Boil water, he said. We are doing exactly as he requests.” He handed Christian a glass of whiskey. “Sit. Drink this.”

Christian let his friend guide him to the chair by the fire. He gulped down the whiskey and let the heat from the smooth liquid warm his cold body. Hadley took the seat opposite.

“I still don’t understand what happened. Who fired at us? They must have been after Dennett? If he wasn’t already dead I’d kill him myself, duel or no duel.”

The doctor had told Christian that Serena would likely recover, but it was hard to believe the reassurances when she lay so still and unresponsive in the bed upstairs.

Finally the doctor entered the drawing room. “The bullet’s out and her wound is cleaned and stitched. The dressings need to be changed regularly and the wound cleaned with alcohol. Now I’m afraid it’s a waiting game. Infection is the enemy.”

“Can I see her?” Christian asked.

The doctor nodded. “She’s not awake. Let her rest. She needs to conserve her strength.”

He didn’t need to say more. Christian had seen many men in the war survive their initial wounds only to succumb to the silent and invisible enemy—gangrene.

Christian shook the doctor’s hand. “Thank you.” The doctor just looked at him with pity.

Before he went upstairs to see Serena, he turned to Hadley. “Please, let Lily know Serena is fine and I’ll come and see her tonight.” Hadley had taken Lily to the Coldhurst residence. She
would remain there until they knew Serena was out of danger.

Once in her room, Christian sat next to Serena’s bed and took her hand in his. Closing his eyes, he prayed she’d live. He almost had his dream. Dennett was dead and Serena would be his wife—if she lived.

“Fight, darling. Live. We almost have our dream. Don’t let anything snatch my—our—happiness away. I love you so much.…”

He laid his head on the pillow beside her head and let the tears flow.

In his time of need, his fellow Libertine Scholars didn’t desert him. Jock Fanselow was being held by the magistrate, his arrest kept secret. They didn’t want anyone to know he’d been caught. The less the enemy knew, the better, since they were still so much in the dark over who wanted all six of them disgraced and then dead.

The men took it in turns to sit with Serena. Christian told them to talk to her. He remembered that when he had been delirious from the pain of his burns, the sound of those he knew had helped him to fight to stay in the land of the living.

Worry gnawed at him until his stomach churned with it. He hadn’t eaten or slept for days. His mind and body were stretched to breaking point. He was exhausted, frayed, and choked with fear that she’d die. If Serena did not recover … well, he would not think of that possibility. He could not face the world without her in it.

She was everything to him. Her beauty made him speechless and her kindness brought him to his knees. Every day since he’d met her, he thanked God for sending her to him. His dreams on the battlefields of Europe, of a full and happy life, fell or soared with her.

Plus, what would he tell Lily if she died? Christian had given her a good talking-to regarding her escapade to the dueling field, but he couldn’t scold too hard. She was too upset about Serena. Besides, Lily’s interference may well have saved his life. He’d never know if he could have bested Dennett.

He’d also finally relented and let Lily visit with Serena. He’d hoped it might make her open her eyes. Lily sat and chatted to her and was so brave. But she cried in the carriage all the way back to the Coldhurst residence.

With every moment that she lay comatose, he felt cold emptiness creeping back into his soul. His friends tried to reassure him, but they knew he was suffering. He didn’t even bother to
mask his raw emotions. One day they too would meet a woman who was their reason for living, and then they would understand his terror.

He’d been out riding this morning. He had to clear his head and pour his energy into willing Serena to survive. He was just walking back from the stable when Arend came out the front door and stood waving from the porch. “Christian, hurry! It’s Serena. She’s awake.”

Excitement flooded him, but he repressed it. She wasn’t out of the woods yet, but it was a start, and as he began to run for the house, a smile tugged at his mouth. He raced inside and bounded up the stairs, his fatigue falling away like a loose cloak from his shoulders.

Serena was giggling at something Hadley was saying just as Christian burst through the door with Arend close behind him. When she saw his haggard face, her smile died on her lips—he’d been worried about her.

Love overflowed in her heart and filled her gaze as she reached out a hand to him.

He crossed the room to her bed in two long strides and stood speechless for a moment, staring at her with welling emerald-green eyes. He reached for her hand and grasped it firmly in his, as if he were never going to let go.

He sank into the chair by her bed, recently vacated by Hadley, and brought her hand fervently to his lips. His long-lashed eyes closed as if in silent prayer.

“I’m fine, Christian,” she whispered. “I’m strong like you and I’m going to live.”

He pressed her palm to his cheek and hoarsely said, “I’m going to bloody ensure you do.” He opened his eyes and, with a shaky voice, said, “I thought I’d lost you. I can’t live without you.”

“I don’t intend to ever get shot again. Once is more than enough,” she quietly said. “But Hadley’s told me the best news ever, Peter’s dead.”

“Yes,” and he broke into a beautiful smile. A smile that made his scars invisible.

He moved onto the bed and pulled her gently into his arms, careful of her heavily bandaged shoulder. She hugged him around his neck with her good arm and rested her head atop his hair, breathing in his scent. Right now his scent was the best thing she’d smelt in a long while.

She twirled the hair at his nape in her fingers, loving the feel of his hard body next to hers.

“Peter’s dead, and you’re alive,” she whispered into the room. “I still can’t believe I—we’re—going
to get our happily ever after.”

He pulled back from her, and she could see him searching her face for her reaction. She stared at him defiantly. “I should be sad, but I won’t pretend. I’m glad he’s dead.”

He bent his head and kissed her lips. “That makes two of us. He can never hurt you again.”

She sighed. “Don’t be angry but I made Arend and Maitland tell me what happened and about the man you captured while we waited for you to return from your ride.”

Christian didn’t care what they’d told her. All he cared about was she was awake. “I could never be angry with you. I love you too much.”

There was a cough from Maitland. She’d forgotten they had an audience. “Yes, yes, you love Christian and he loves you, and Dennett’s dead, but we still don’t know who paid a man to kill you. We have a common enemy, and that’s the first puzzle. The second is why he, or she, as we have ascertained, needs Serena dead too.”

“What about Sebastian? I wonder if our enemy hasn’t had a hand in what happened at his duel with Baron Larkwell. If so, when he returns to England, he’ll be a target. Christian, he doesn’t know about the threat. You have to warn him.” Serena owed Sebastian, and the thought that he was vulnerable …

Maitland straightened up from where he was leaning on the bedchamber wall. “A note has already been sent, but who knows how long it will take to reach Jamaica or if Sebastian is still there.”

“Where’s Grayson?” Maitland asked.

Arend looked the most concerned. “I didn’t want to alarm you all until Serena had recovered.” They all looked at him. “Grayson didn’t turn up the other night. That is, he left me to my own entertainments.”

Hadley spoke up. “He hasn’t been at his house in over a se’nnight.”

“Roberts told me he had stopped coming to the house to deal with my correspondence almost three weeks ago.”

Serena put her hand to her mouth. The men shifted uncomfortably in the room. She clutched at Christian’s sleeve. “Do you think he’s …?”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. Perhaps if we understood why we’ve all been targeted, then we could work out where to start looking for Grayson.” He rubbed his thumb over her palm.

“If they were after you, why kill me as well? Did you learn more from the man you captured?” she asked.

Christian looked at Arend. Arend cleared his throat. “He said that you know his employer and that you might work out who
she
is. We all assumed it was a man but now …” He shook his head.

Serena chewed her bottom lip and thought hard. “But I have no idea what he was talking about. How would I know anything? I’ve been away from England for the past two years.”

“Then whatever is driving this person to target all six of us must have happened several years ago.”

“That is what I cannot understand. If this incident happened several years ago, I would have been a young girl. I lived on my father’s estate. I hadn’t ever been to London, even. Father did entertain at Hastings, though.”

Maitland walked to the end of the bed. “Then, logically, it must have occurred at your house in Hastings.”

Arend muttered under his breath, “That can’t be right. I’ve never been to the Duke of Hastings’s estate.”

Serena said, “The rest of you have. I was introduced to Maitland. I think Father saw you as a marriage contender because of your wealth.” Maitland merely shrugged. She continued, “I clearly remember Hadley flirting outrageously with me at one ball.” That earned Hadley a scowl from Christian. “And I observed Grayson, Sebastian, and Christian from afar on a few occasions.” A flush of embarrassment flooded her face when she caught Christian’s grin. “You were all too busy chasing loose women to be bothered with a debutante.”

In a husky voice Christian stated, “If the others would leave, I’d be quite happy to ‘bother’ you.”

Her face flushed again, as did the rest of her body. She couldn’t look away from the molten desire in his eyes.

“You said he stressed that it was all six of us,” Hadley said. “If Arend hasn’t been to Hastings, then that theory seems faulty.”

Arend slowly straightened. “But my father visited your estate many times.” He looked at the other men. “You don’t think this could have anything to do with our fathers, do you?”

Serena bit her lip. “If it happened when I was a young girl, it would be more likely that
this situation was of your fathers’ making.”

Arend slapped the bedpost. “This is not making sense.”

She couldn’t hold back a yawn. Her shoulder ached, and her head swirled trying to remember everything. She caught Christian watching her.

Christian’s eyes didn’t leave her face. “Can you gentlemen leave the room? I’d like to check Serena’s wound, and she needs to rest. I’ll meet you downstairs and we can discuss this further, while Serena’s resting.”

From the look in his eyes Serena doubted he had rest on his mind. Her reaction to his command was instant. Despite the pain, her pulse leaped, her body grew warmer and a sizzle of longing swept through her.

The three men exited the room, Hadley the only one to comment as he closed the door with a chuckle. “She does need rest, Christian. Do try to remember that.”

Serena prayed he didn’t remember that for at least the next hour.

She shouldn’t have worried, for as soon as the door closed he wriggled closer and lay down beside her, gathering her protectively in his arms.

“There is only one question I’d like to know the answer to.” The light in his eyes dimmed and his features took on a cautious look. He let out a shaky breath. “Serena, will you marry me?”

With her free hand, she cupped his face and her heart hurt when she saw the uncertain look in his eyes.

“How could you doubt I would? I love you.
You!
I didn’t go racing toward the duel other than to save you and Lily. You are both my world—my heart. I was scared for you. It was always about you.”

He remained mute, emotion gripping him. He took her face between his hands and gazed down at her. “You’re free of Dennett. You’re a widow now. Once you reenter society, half the men in England will line up to offer for you. You could have your pick.”

“Then I pick you.” She nestled down against his chest with a sigh. “I could not have lived if I knew you had been killed trying to save me.”

His grip tightened around her. “I could not have lived knowing I’d failed to save
you
!”

She pressed her lips to his neck. “Thank goodness neither of us has to face that prospect.”

“For now, but we still have an enemy on the loose. A very dangerous enemy, it seems.” Christian lifted her face to his and kissed her, hard. His mouth slanted over hers in a fierce,
claiming need. “Oh, God,” he finally breathed, “I thought I’d lost you, and I’m not going to lose you again. I can’t.”

“You won’t.” She threaded her hand through his. “Together we shall work out who is out to destroy the Libertine Scholars. We can make a list of everyone your fathers ever wronged.”

“It will be a long list,” Christian noted dryly. He hesitated before adding, “Although if it includes all six of us, it does make sense that maybe the villain is common to all our fathers.” He sat up excitedly. “That narrows the field considerably.”

“Maitland will be our greatest asset—he thinks so dispassionately and logically.” She smiled and lay back on the pillows. A wave of tiredness washed over her, and she briefly closed her eyes.

He lay back down next to her and stroked down her arm. “I haven’t even asked how you are.”

“I’m fine now that you’re with me. I’m a little sore and just a tad tired.”

He kissed her forehead. “Go to sleep, my lovely.”

“I think I shall.” She closed her eyes. “Don’t leave me. I want you here when I wake up.”